11:51
by BleedingHeartsoftheWorldUnite
Summary: Halloween-themed side story.
1. Prologue

Victory!

Fueled by fruit and rightly proud of a job well done, the fox - err, "bandicoot" - danced on screen as the points kept ticking up to blow the current high score out of the water. Cassie had gotten pretty good at the game, but her dad was right when he said that it was so much more fun to just go out there and run from danger yourself. Naturally mom was even more justified to point out that he was just a sore loser. Capturing the image to gloat online to her friends and followers, the first reply had nothing to do with with her accomplishment.

 _UR mom_

Very nice. Unspoken and harmless, there seemed to be an ongoing battle to determine who answered the quickest - given the contents of the half-sent message, one of the contenders was automatically out of the running. The kind of person that was quote unquote "respectful enough" is answer asap (usually within five minutes of contact), if she didn't know for a fact who was replying to the automatic alert, the bespectacled blonde might have been offended.

 _Srry. UR mom said u would b over at 4. Its 5:30._

Cassie sighed to herself and turned the game off before texting Ella directly. If she'd told the older girl once, she'd told her a million times that there was no need to apologize every single time that a message sent before it was ready. Honestly she had no idea why she kept bothering to teach that lesson when her mom would just undercut any progress by complimenting the girl on her "impeccable manners". Racing through the list of contacts to the heiress, she wrote back:

 _Dad is taking 4EVER! Change venue?_

Generous with the vast fortune she would gain unlimited access to someday (why there was a limit on how much she could touch now versus in the future was redundant when anything that had been taken seemed to regenerate the next day, often with interest), this year's Halloween party was being sponsored by the Adler family. On her own volition, Ella had volunteered to help the entire Drake family (including the extended members) with their costumes. Ella's mom had rented out the entire rec center for the night, and no expense was being spared - the band was going to be both relevant and live, the staff was going to be on-hand so there were no accidents (especially at the pool), and there was even going to be a costume contest. Frankly Cassie felt that it would be rigged in favor Ella, but the other girl swore she wasn't going to enter.

Aware that her cousin of sorts (no one really knew how to label the relationship, just that uncle Sam had taken the heiress under his wing) had a crush on some guy, Cassie figured that that was true enough. Lame as it was to cut out when so many people with complicated histories were going to get together under one roof, it was a no-brainer that the other girl would probably be ducking out early to spend some quality time with her mystery beau. It was just what teenagers did, and probably the part she was most dreading about getting older. Despite not being interested in whatever it was the teen thought she was going to get up to, Cassie was still curious to know who it was that had Ella so wrapped around his finger.

Musing if it was someone she even knew, there was a long pause on the other end of the conversation, which was presumably new arrangements being made. Whatever the hold up was, the reply came quickly enough. _See u soon_.


	2. Beer in the Bedroom

Mom no doubt fixing all the little last-minute mishaps from her phone as she screamed at the bevy of maids to help her finish getting dressed, dad was probably still locked in his office, so there were no formal plans being made. Bathed in the encroaching gloom with little more than the lamp on the nightstand and the burning blueish whiteness of the computer screen on the work desk to see by, technically speaking there wasn't anything formal happening in the lavish bedroom. Browser opened to a playlist labeled "slow burn" and volume turned full blast to discourage any unwanted visitors, even if her parents weren't otherwise preoccupied, she knew that they would have said. Mama would deliver the message as an order to obeyed sooner rather than later, and daddy at least would have studied her for the reason why she was hesitating, but ultimately they would both have told her to handle it on her own, seeing as it was her venture in the first place.

Light from the cell phone screen vanishing as she ended the exchange, Daniella didn't set the latest must-have aside so much as accidentally drop it on the cushy champagne-rose carpet. Pushing the device away with her knee, she had every intention of calling the team with the new coordinates, once she was free to do so. At the moment, she was bit tied up entertaining; not alone in a grandiose vault so spacious that the closet created a hallway to the adjoining bathroom, the distinguished guest in question was the pen in her hand. Sam was too much a fixture in her life to consider him just company.

Fingers combing through the ends of her hair because he secretly enjoyed the feeling of the silken strands slipping through his grasp, he casually informed the daughter of his partner, "I hate when you do that."

Sketchbook getting tapped on the corner as she sent the mechanical pencil down to start a new line, she gazed up at him curiously, cautious blue doe eyes wondering where she had made a mistake. Autumn evening light filling the dimly lit room with a shimmery hue of fire and honey, her skin became like gold and her eyes amethyst. The real treasure of the Adler fortune, between the soft transformation and the expression on her face as she puzzled over how long he had let her get away with her crime, Daniella looked older than her years, which in this instance wasn't entirely a bad thing.

"What?" Cocking her head to the side in puzzlement, the teen chuckled softly at the apparent answer, "That thing with my tongue?"

Upright and always within arms reach, prior to getting the notification her attention had been on taking another hearty swig of beer. Petite hand wrapped tight around the neck, her lips parted as she ran the fleshy muscle over the tip, tongue determined to not waste a single drop. Attentive motion automatic by this point, her dad was always on her case because it was a gross habit, not because she still had a few years before it was legal to imbibe what she would. Her mother on the other hand... well she viewed it in an entirely different light...

That wasn't what the man meant, although he did wish that his companion wasn't so fond of drawing notice to her sweet little lips. Not that he knew if they were sweet or not - why would he? - they just looked like they would taste of peaches or plums. Something summery and warm, like pinot noir drizzled over a sugary dessert.

"Draw in the dark." Muddied shoe nudging her side without concern of the force he was exerting, Samuel never took too much pleasure in playing the adult figure to her adolescent shenanigans. Although in this situation, it was necessary to be the voice of reason. "It'll hurt your eyes." Reaching into his back pocket for a stick of gum, he figured that he may as well bring another peeve to surface since they were on the topic. "Don't even get me started on using the phone when we're together."

Had it not been for the daylight fading away, the thief would have suggested that they move to the balcony. Almost annoying and on the tip of his tongue, the caring spirit within noted that she could do with some sun. Much more familiar a guide, the hetero male inside lingered a little too long on what scant bits were exposed beneath the young woman's lounge wear, itching to say that when she ventured out, it would be in her favor to not wear something that would leave such bland, blocky tan lines. _I still think she ought to consider sunbathing._ On the topic of being in the wild less and less these days, athletic as they were in the outside world, he noticed that she was also putting on a few pounds. Must have been stress.

Wrapper crinkling faintly as he balled up the trash to toss it into the wicker wastepaper basket behind the teen's head, the silver ball missed by a wide margin and bounced off the girl's forehead. _Strange, he usually hit one of his targets..._. Rubbish not even colliding dead center, the waxy sphere rolled down her cheek like a single teardrop and only picked up momentum until gravity did the rest and it landed in her lap.

Song fading away to the next track on the list of some hundred songs for the occasion, just hearing the word 'together' made her fidget uncomfortably and have to lean back to re-balance herself. Using the opportunity to her advantage, Daniella bought a minute by fixing her position; she also picked up the discarded wrapper and began to smooth it back out again. Lines never prefect, she still enjoyed re-purposing the shiny material into little origami-like figures.

Mind set on crafting another rose to collect dust on the shelf with all the other figurines, the heiress clicked her tongue with impatience to sell a level of self-assurance that she didn't quite have, "Please, give me some credit here!" Admittedly that was a little difficult to do when her hands were curling up trash into a pearl-and-platinum petal, yet surely her point would speak for itself. "I'm not dumb enough to accidentally save proof that I've let a boy into my room. We both know that my dad checks my phone all the time." He probably kept surveillance too, but if he'd seen anything she hadn't heard about it yet.

Only breaking long enough to gauge the situation with Cassie (and to shape a flower out of discount tinfoil), Daniella pursed her lips and began to slowly erase the worst curves of the first draft. Erring already, the ethereal bloom of unwanted scraps was going to be quite the project it seemed. "Besides, if I don't answer, someone might think I'm up to something."

Like a typical teenager, she completely ignored the free advice. Whatever, it was only her own health.

"It's almost as if Rafe doesn't trust you." Threading his fingers through the roots to the ends, he wondered if she had any inkling that he had cracked the code of what her new tattoo was supposed to mean. As the one other person in her life with ink (that was visible at any rate), she herself had deemed him to be 'instrumental' in the designing and hiring process, so he figured that she must have known he'd get it. If the floating light and thorned rose were representative of her parents, how long would it take to figure out who the sword and halo symbolized? Rafe had a legitimate reason to ground the heiress for the paper lantern, so he wasn't going to take to the new ink she was about to get, regardless of whom it was aimed at. "I wonder why?"

Obviously on the verge of sticking her tongue out at the man, she thought better of it and curled her tongue back over her teeth just before the tip could poke through her lips. It wasn't very mature, and she didn't like stooping to that level, so instead the heiress just fixed him with a look that could only mean so many things. "Oh, just stick it, Drake." Hopefully rolling her eyes would distract from any other connotations the brain might infer. "We both got to enjoy our stay in Mexico."

Mexico, right. Both he and Rafe had earned a pretty penny from the discovery of lost caves near the very heart of the country - even taking the little work site "accident" into account - yet it was far from the most fun he'd ever had in his life. Although it was hardly the worst thing either. Fortunate that father and daughter shared a common hobby, the multi-billionaire's interest in molding a truly reliable successor outweighed the other responsibilities of being a parent, so despite being in trouble, Daniella had been permitted to accompany the party. If she hadn't been there... Between being _that_ close to falling to his death, catching a nasty virus that had left him bedridden for the better part of two weeks, and gambling away roughly half of what he took home from the gig, frankly the ex-con was lucky to leave with his life.

Proud of the token she had discovered while cataloging the remains of what appeared to be a campsite - admittedly the trinket was one of an already sizable collection - the heiress wanted a professional opinion on the value. Naturally her first choice in the matter was the man that had taught her how to appraise in the first place, however the problem with his work was that he had less free time on his hands than one might guess. But Drake wasn't such a downgrade, so the young woman didn't require too much effort in pretending that she wasn't disappointed to be turned away.

For his part in the equation, ultimately Sam was grateful that it had played out the way it had, because if Rafe hadn't been on the phone that day and had been able to speak to his daughter, he probably wouldn't have been sitting here. Best case scenario, he would be laid up in a hospital in Mexico due to a collapsing platform of the crudely fashioned elevator that left at least two others dead.

Grounded no more once she had saved Sam from serious injury, the teen had spent so much time on lock down that the thief seemed to be enjoying his stay on the merit of just being able to freely socialize as he wished. Even putting aside the dangerous work conditions, in comparison the first part of the job seemed to playing in his favor.

Then came the night he lost seven grand in a single hand.

Rafe had warned him against getting involved with the locals - hell, even the guys they hired had tried to dissuade the historian from dealing with certain individuals - but he hadn't listened. Bless her, even Dells nagged him to practice caution and not write checks that he couldn't cash, although she always implored him to be wiser than to spend his free time in such a manner. For all her pretty words, they both knew that she wouldn't really ever stop him, that so long as she had the money he'd be as good as covered from the worst of it. Truthfully he could have always gone to her old man for that same level of protection - Rafe would have paid the difference, there was no doubt - but somehow the minor was much more reasonable with her terms.

Usually.

On the surface, buying her a drink at the bar was a simple task that she could have done herself; laws meaning little enough to an Adler, Rafe would only ever stop her when she started to cause a scene. More of a traditionalist in terms of forbidding certain behaviors, Bai would typically only allow a single drink where it was deemed to be proper. But her mother was back in the States and therefore had even less say than when Rafe was around to override her rules.

As it turned out, the night Daniella collected on her request the closest thing to parental guidance was the bartender, and he wasn't about to turn down such a generous tipper. Suffice it to say, the last thing Samuel could clearly remember of that night involved body shots...

Business calling Rafe away for the next three or so days, on top of getting black-out drunk with the boss's daughter, Sam had also got something nasty. Initially he had just suspected it to be a hangover, but when it showed no signs of letting up he realized that he had legitimately came down with some kind of bug. Useless in the first few hours herself, the heiress had managed to get him to the nearest restroom to be sick - she'd stayed with him, though her head had been under the facet a chunk of that time. Once sobriety had started to come back to the pair, and the need to vomit every three seconds had passed, he discovered that she had the makings of a decent care provider.

Cleaning up despite the access to maids for that kind of thing, Daniella had gone above and beyond for him, working herself so hard that she'd ended up passing out next to him while fetching a third pillow. Rafe hadn't been too pleased to find his biggest asset to the treasure hunting business in bed with his little girl (there had been a words, and a threat or two), however he calmed down when he noticed that there was sick in her hair and they were both fully clothed. Contagious, whatever it was that had struck Sam had passed on to his volunteer nurse and left them both clammy, pale, sweating, and vomiting in turn.

Mind returning to the present with the mental image of her going full Exorcist on her old man, Sam allowed her hair to fall back down to her shoulder before snatching the stiff and starchy sketchbook from her unsuspecting clutches to have a better look for himself. A page back was filled with spiderwebs and ideas for Jack o'lanterns, the space between filled by doodles of cartoon pigs in costumes. The missing piece of meat on the bacon-pig was both gruesome and hilarious! _Hehe_. Beyond that, the drawings were more or less a mystery - he'd once snooped into the book for an insight in how the mind of the youngest in the family worked, and he'd almost immediately regretted that decision. Flipping back around to the most recent work-in-progress, it was full of various takes on the sword and halo combination.

Without Mexico, the costume that Daniella chose for the party wouldn't have held nearly as much meaning, but it still would have been cute! Also, the corset would help to hide some of the water weight that she was retaining. "You may have earned the spandex, but the cape is mine." Whatever happened, she would always have the fact that she had saved his life once.

Mixing up her analogies with what they would be going as versus what they had done for one another, he was reminded on cue of the few extra whiskers that had been applied to his person. Setting the book down on his knee, the man scratched at the back of his neck. Prior to picking the graphite tome back up to offer his expert opinion, once the itch had been dealt with his eyes roamed over towards the purposefully tattered scarlet cloak hanging on the back of the door. "Please," he chuckled, "we both know how that fairy tale ends."

Phone once more back in her hands, before he had even realized she moved for it, she began to text the new instructions to the make-up team to assemble at the Drake household instead. "Yeah, we do." Playfully tapping his shin with her bare and pedicured periwinkle piggies, Daniella smirked once she had finished the message, "I wipe the floor with you and claim the pelt for my mantle."

Jesus, if her parents weren't who they were, Sam might have been more alarmed than what he was by the vicious imagery. "Wow. What version of Red Riding Hood did you grow up reading?"


	3. A Bold Choice

Too old to bother barking at the troupe of intruders when they pulled into the driveway, Vicky ignored the strange people with their hard plastic boxes and nasty-smelling bags as they entered the house. However, her nose did perk up when one of them reached out to greet her girl the way humans did. It was a strange practice, and even the oldest of friends would engage in the silly exercise, just as her master and her namesake did. Vicky never had come to fully understand her people - she only knew that she loved them and would do anything to keep them safe.

Upholding her first duty with pride, she nibbled on the green treat the master's mate had given her as she watched queer stations getting set up in the kitchen and introductions being made. All seemed well with these humans, but all the same the old girl had darted out to show the rest of the family in once they arrived on the oil-scented two-wheel, just in case her girl was being deceived or was in danger. The one they called Sam was family and had been around for as along as she could remember, but his girl was much newer to the fold.

"Ella!" Cassie motioned away the scrawny mummy undergrad that was discussing where exactly she wanted to take her costume when she caught sight of the older girl coming up the stairs of the porch. Instead of greet her uncle, the bespectacled blonde pointed him to her parent's bedroom, "Can you please tell the diva to just pick a costume already? Seriously, we've lost half the day already."

Leaving the girls to it, the brunette gave up half-way through the anemic wave when he realized that neither were paying him the slightest bit of attention. "Well," he mumbled under his breath to no one in particular, "that was rude." He expected as much from the brat, but Mrs. Manners? Dells was so married to the rulebook that she still called him 'Mr. Drake' on occasion, granted the style was becoming less and less frequent in conversation.

Pale sapphires watching the man go about his new task, the heiress was careful to use her peripherals so it looked like she was scrutinizing the team she'd hired. In part, she actually was, but largely she was nervous about being left alone with Cassie. "So zombie? That's... a good pick. Thodrick's father worked on the Walking Dead, and he himself won a season of that reality tv contest show for special effects make-up, so you'll be in good hands."

"Zombie school girl, if you wanna split hairs." The blonde shrugged, not bothered to remind Ella that it was actually a group costume.

Dress shirt ran through a river and washed among the pebbles, the pleated skirt had been shredded beforehand with Elena's help (steps all recorded via social media). Nathan had agreed to the costume only after he had bought the ensemble to keep the skirt from being too short, however as everything came together, the warpaint was getting a little too real for Elena. Not covered on social media but sent directly as it happened, it seemed that there had been a minor disagreement over how much blood was too far. Sadly, with everyone else so preoccupied with Nathan's indecisiveness, no one else was left who might disagree with Cassie's vision.

Coming around the coffee table that had been transformed into a studio table of every color imaginable and brushes with shapes and functions that went over both of their heads, the blonde beamed. Lingering by the doorway, the elder girl took one shuffling step forward and crooked her mouth at the corner in return of the invitation in. Bright as the sun, it just seemed so effortless and natural for the younger female. Daniella wasn't surprised though, not when you took into account the differences in their upbringing.

Arms wrapping around the heiress in a warm embrace that was met with a small pat on the elbow, she saw that they were probably the closest to being dressed. Apart from her uncle, however he was pretty much just wearing his street clothes, so that would have been hard for anyone to beat. No, Cass was in her skirt and the top had been set aside so that Thodrick had room to make her a living nightmare, and Daniella was similarly half-dressed under her leather coat. Actually she couldn't help but giggle at the fact that a few years back, she herself had gone as Red; only difference was, Vicky had been her wolf. Uncle Sam must have lost another bet.

Beautification coming first, a woman with a rainbow tattoo on the shaved part of her head ushered the girls back into their seats so the work could begin. Paid in advanced for their services under the initials D.J., once they realized who the patron really was, the entire team was eager to please. So in short, it stood to reason why they would want to get the show on the road.

Enormous poofs getting dabbed over their faces, Kristen (rainbow woman) asked her client what exactly she wanted to go for with her version of an old classic. "Miss Cassie has the scary down, but I never mind going head-to-head with Thod." Winking over at her co-worker, she began to twist and prod the heiress to come up with ideas. Naturally they had head shots prior and had come up with various alternatives, but now that they were seeing their mannequins in person and had a grasp on the costumes, a little revision never went out of style. "I could always play up the seductive nature of your look as well, really get your date howling."

"Gag!" Placed a whole set over at the kitchen island (close enough to do some real damage to the young woman if she so wished), Cassie stuck her tongue out in revulsion before cringing at the notion, "Seriously, lady, that's my uncle you're talking about. Ew."

Face a mask of glass thin enough to reveal the truth at the right angle, Daniella knew the safest course of action was to follow the mini Drake's lead. Biting back a grin that dared tug the corner of her mouth, for everything that Sam was, the possibility was downright laughable. Yeah, they had costumes that could be seen as a couple set, however did that mean that every Danny was with every Sandy? No! The truth was simple: he just wanted something easy, and she teasingly suggested that due to his need for a shave, he merely go as a wolf. Three weeks later, she just happened to find the most beautiful red cloak for sale, so it just kind of happened by accident. There was no planning, no subterfuge, no conspiracy, hope or strings. Story of her life, it just happened.

Haughtiness an act that sorely needed fine-tuning, it was undeniable that her tone carried in it a sense of finality, brokering no room for argument. The other two make-up artists waiting for their dummies had even glanced up from their phones. "It's not like that, okay?"

"I never... wait, you mean that guy you came in with?" Confusion turned into mirth as Kristen stopped to clutch her stripped stomach for the biggest belly laugh of the month. "Damn," tittering on after having to catch her breath, the aspiring professional knew that she had probably just shot herself in the foot, but the looks on their faces made it impossible to calm down, "you two are the ones that took it there." Honestly, she was speaking in general terms, but if they both took it that place... Well, a paycheck was a paycheck.

Laughter infectious (and eating a good five minutes that could have otherwise been spent productively), the blonde realized just how ridiculous it sounded that the heiress and her uncle could ever have that sort of relationship and subsequently burst out. Encouraged, Kristen doubled over and even Thoderick let out a subdued giggle. _I mean, it's not that funny..._ Nerve touched and any past notion of humor gone, Daniella could only muster a mild titter - the young woman might have been a tad on the standoffish side, however she had never considered herself to be unmarriageable. _Was she?_ That was going to plague her until she could get a second opinion on the matter.

Jumbled from the autumn breeze tearing through her hair at 75 miles per hour without a helmet, the heiress suddenly didn't feel quite so bad about the umber mess on top of her head. It was Kristen's price for finding it _all so funny_. But at least someone was laughing. Mama would have had a massive hissy fit for the ages if she knew that her little girl traveled in such a gritty fashion, and if she learned that it was frequently without protection... Daddy at least used his brain and figured that when the pair traveled together, they usually weren't taking a car. In her mind, he probably was less than enthused either way about the thought of his little girl spending so much alone time with the thief, but at least with the bike Drake would have to keep his hands to himself.

Keeping the train rolling - obviously the professional one that left some room for a future in the field - Thodrick clipped back Cassie's hair so that he could work on his latest morbid masterpiece without interference. "So, why zombie school girl, specifically? The undead never go out of style, I give you that, but that's just so..." Trailing off, he couldn't quite decide what it was, although he certainly approved.

"Mainstream as the undead are, I wanted to put a spin on the concept." Explaining how she and some of the others in her intermediate yoga class concocted the concept of exploiting their ages for one the local costume contests (group division), it was clear when the bespectacled blonde spoke that she was legitimately proud. "My mom was never too thrilled by how far my friends and I decided to take the whole thing, so I thought that by wearing a dress she'd ease back on the whole thing, but..." It hadn't been pretty. "Apparently she finds the whole thing to be a little tasteless, given the social climate." Cass clearly understood that, but at the same time she wanted to just be a kid and have fun with her friends.

No one ever thought to ask when it was just so cool that she got to travel around the world with her parents to all kinds of exotic locales, yet there was a downside. The preteen realized that she had no room to complain when her mom and dad would sacrifice everything for her, that she was insanely lucky to have the incredible support system that she did, so it wasn't like she wished she could change anything about her life. Seriously, they might not have all been the best of examples to live by, but there wasn't a single one of her parent's friends that didn't adore her. It just might be a nice change of pace to get to grow up with one set of friends and go to school like everyone else, horrible as that experience sounded when explained by her peers.

Poor little rich girl that she was, Daniella was a prime example of what a messed up home life was. Loaded and able to have anything she desired at the flick of a wrist, the person that the heiress trusted most in the world was a professional pickpocket. Probably to be expected when her father was involved in a number of shady dealings himself and her mother was a shark in human form, it was still sad to think that the girl cried herself to sleep at night over a U-bend. Despite fitting into the frame well enough, everyone knew Daniella as the pity project, the defenseless babe that clung to the elder Drake like a cyst (not her words). From the outside, there were only so many reasons that relationship existed, and none of them were very good.


End file.
